PROJECT
Health Care Providers' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Emergency Contraception in Barbados and Jamaica

In collaboration with the University of the West Indies and the Ministries of Health of Barbados and Jamaica, Population Council researchers conducted a World Health Organization-funded investigation of health care providers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) in these two countries.

Project staff members interviewed 228 obstetrician/gynecologists, general practitioners, family planning nurses, and pharmacists in Jamaica’s Kingston-St. Catherine metropolitan area. In Barbados, 200 participants from the same provider groups were interviewed in a national survey. Despite near universal awareness of ECPs, in both countries the research documented critical knowledge gaps regarding ECP availability, use, and safety. For example, 40 percent of Barbadian providers and 16 percent of Jamaican providers erroneously believed that the maximum amount of time after unprotected sex that ECPs were effective was 48 hours or less. Just half of Barbadian physicians and nurses knew that a dedicated ECP product (Postinor-2) was available in their country. Participants in both countries also erroneously believed that there were contraindications to ECP use in terms of health conditions and frequency of use. For example, 43 percent of Jamaican participants had refused to dispense ECPs because the client had “recently” used the method.

Investigators shared findings at local dissemination workshops attended by key stakeholders in each country—including Ministry of Health officials, health care providers, representatives of feminist organizations, rape crisis counselors, and reproductive health advocates—to develop strategies for future educational efforts and policies to increase awareness of and access to ECPs in Barbados and Jamaica.

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Location

Barbados and Jamaica

Duration

2004–2006

Population Council researchers

Sandra Garcia, Eileen A. Yam

Non-Council collaborators

Davida Becker (Department of Population and Family Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)

Horace Fletcher,  Georgiana Gordon-Strachan (University of the West Indies, Mona)

Garth McIntyre (University of the West Indies, Cave Hill)

Donor

World Health Organization 

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See Also

• Latin America and the Caribbean
• Emergency Contraception

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